Friday, February 22, 2013

No Nukes

The Three Mile Island accident was for real in 1979. The China Syndrome was a movie. The movie starred Jane Fonda (whose IPC films also produced it), Jack Lemmon and Michael Douglas. Jane was working on getting the rights to the Karen Silkwood story. She couldn't get the rights. Several years later, Mike Nichols would and he would direct the film starring Meryl Streep as the whistleblowing activists, Kurt Russell as the man she loved and Cher as Dolly Pelicker. At one point, Karen and "Dolly" (Cher's character was a composite) have a bad fight with Cher telling Meryl she's crazy and Meryl responding, "If people say I'm crazy, it's because I've got you for a friend."

I thought Meryl was good, not great, as Karen Silkwood. (I thought Cher was great.) I wish Jane had played the role (or Meryl had done it at the end of the 80s when she really came into her own). But Michael /Douglas was developing China Syndrome and since both the films would deal with the nuclear power industry, it was suggested they team up.

So Jane plays a reporter named Kimberly Welles who covers fluff for a TV station but she's loved by the viewers so she's getting a chance to do more -- even if it's not necessarily hard hitting stuff.
Michael Douglas plays Richard, the freelance cameraman she likes to work with. Jack Lemmon plays a nuclear plant manager -- I think named Jack.

The plant in the movie ends up releasing some steam into the air -- radioactive -- because there are problems with the plant. They don't know the half of it.

And when the movie came out, the nuclear power industry worked overtime to slam it and to pull in favors to get the film discredited. For example, Newsweek, in their review attacked it as unrealistic. Then right after the film comes out, the Three Mile Island and, woops, turns out the film wasn't unrealistic, crazed conspiracy plot. It really could and did happen.

And that's why we don't need more nuclear plants in this country. In fact, we need to close the ones we do have. I laugh at so-called 'environmentalists' who insist that nukes are 'clean energy' because they're not. Chernobyl and others have demonstrated that. We saw that again in 2011 with Japan and Fukushima.

(CNN)
-- Six tanks at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in southeast Washington
are leaking radioactive waste, the governor said Friday, calling the
news "disturbing" even as he insisted there are "no immediate health
risks.

Friday, February 22, 2013. Chaos and violence continue, assassinations
today include a judge and a police officer, millions turn out to protest
in Iraq today, a call is made for England's Labour party to apologize
for Tony Blair's part in the Iraq War, support actions for Bradley
Manning are planned, and more.

Unlike in the United States where
national politics are largely a story of the duopoly parties, in
England there are numerous political parties. There is the Labour Party
which, prior to the ascent of Tony Blair and his Blair-ites, was
considered a party for the working people in the United Kingdom. Labour
currently has 257 members in the House of Commons (the lower House in
the UK). Tony Blair's ascension was when Big Money really took hold in
Labour and it was thought that the Conservative Party was relegated to
runner up status. But Blair wanted war on Iraq and the accountability
for his War Crimes were, in the end, inflicted upon the Labor Party. To
Labour's 257 seats, the Conservative Party can hold up 305 seats in the
House of Commons. They also -- via a coalition with the Liberal
Democratic Party -- now also claim the spot of prime minister (David
Cameron). The Liberal Democrats hold 57 seats. In addition to those
three, there are eight other political parties which have seats in the
House of Commons. The Green Party of England and Wales is one of the
eight other political parties and it has one seat in the House of
Commons (Caroline Lucas).

But it’s also
pressing to highlight just how wrong the current direction of the
Coalition government is, and how the Labour party is failing to be the
effective opposition that the country desperately needs.Before I do that,
however, there’s another, tragic, anniversary I have to highlight – a
10-year anniversary. For it is a little more than 10 years since the
great, 2-million strong anti-war protest took to the streets of London,
and a little less than 10 years since the Labour Government utterly
ignored the views of those people, and millions of others, and started
the Iraq war.A Guardian survey
last week showed that 55 per cent of Britons agree that "the London
marchers were right", because "a war sold on a false prospectus
delivered little but bloodshed". And the Iraqi people are still
struggling, and dying, as a result of the consequences of that war.Yet Ed Milliband,
who HAS apologised for the Blair government’s immigration policy, has
failed to apologise for the decision to take Britain into an
unjustifiable war.We’re still
waiting for Sir John Chilcot’s report into the war. That’s one landmark
that we can expect future historians to look back on this year.

It's Friday, the Iraqi Spring continues. Alsumaria reports
today is dubbed "Iraq or al-Maliki." al-Maliki would be Nouri
al-Maliki, the prime minister since 2006 when Bully Boy Bush said no to
the Parliament's choice of Ibrahaim al-Jaafari. In 2010, Iraqis said no
to to Nouri but he refused to step down and the White House again
backed Nouri (though now Barack Obama was president). To get around the
vote and the Iraqi Constitution, the US brokered a contract giving
Nouri a second term in exchange for Nouri agreeing to various demands
from the political blocs signing off on the contract. Nouri used The
Erbil Agreement to grab a second term and then refused to honor his
written promises within the contract. Alsumaria notes
that thousands of demonstrators turned out in Kirkuk and Hawija.
Mohammed al-Jubouri tells Alsumaria that over 15,000 took to the streets
in Hawija for "legal, civil and peaceful demonstrations as guaranteed
in the Constitution." Protesters
also demonstrated in Mosul where Shabak and Yezidis participated and
thousands took part in the ongoing sit-in which has lasted more than 57
days. Alsumaria notes
that participants in Kut included "hundreds" of Shi'ite followers of
Moqtada al-Sadr and that there was a call for an end to the violations
of Palestinians by the Israeli government.

Al Mada notes that the number of participants continued to increase today -- as has happened each Friday over the last three months. One count places the number demonstrating at 3,955,000.
The newspaper notes, in Samarra, a sit-in continues and demonstrators
called for Baghdad to be returned to the citizens of Iraq, the real
owners. Sheikh Mohammed Taha Saadoun said it was time to change hands
of leadership and that government promises continue to go unfulfilled. National Iraq News Agency reports
multiple protests in Diyala Province (including Baquba) and quotes
Sheikh Shibab al-Badri ("Vice President of the clerics of Iraq, Diyala
branch"), stating, "Thousands of participants in the unified prayer
flocked to mosques merging in eight administrative units amid tight
security. Calling on the Iraqi government to speed up the
implementation of constitutional and legitimate usurped rights of the
demonstrators in the provinces." Iraqi Spring MC adds
that the Sheikh said the sit-in continues in support of the detained
and oppressed. Iraqi Spring MC notes that children participated in the
protests in Falluja (here and here). National Iraq News Agency notes
that an Anbar Province coordinating committee member stated, "The
masses determined to topple the government of Maliki that ignore the
restitution of the usurped rights of the people, but cause them harm."
Iraqi Spring MC also offers video of the Tikrit protest and Baiji protests. Protests also took place in Baghdad and Stop Killing Muslims in Iraq posts
this photo of the Baghdad demonstration. And if you're trying to get a
sense of how large the Baghdad group was (it was huge), this photo is a must see.

The protesters are justly demanding:1. The immediate release of detained protesters and dissident prisoners.2 . A stop to the death penalty.3. The approval of an amnesty law for innocent detainees.4. The abolition of anti-terrorism laws (especially Clause 4 used to target them).5. The repeal of unfair rulings against dissidents.6. Fair opportunities for work based on professionalism.7.The end of the use of all military command based on geographic areas.8. The provision of essential services to all areas in Iraq neglected by the state.9.
The holding of all … governmental officials, army or security units who
have committed crimes against dissidents accountable, especially those
who have violated the honor of women in prisons.10. A U.N.-sponsored population count.11.
An end to marginalization, a stop to agitating divisions between ethnic
and religious groups, and a stop to the house raids without legal
warrant based on the information of secret informers.12. A stop to financial, administrative and legal corruption.13.
The combating of sectarianism in all its forms by returning religious
buildings and all religious properties to their rightful owners, and the
abolishment of law No. 19 of 2005.The International
Occupation Network (IAON) welcomes the spread of these non-sectarian
protests and supports the efforts of the Iraqi people to regain their
full independence and national sovereignty. Ten years of foreign
occupation is enough! Ten years of massive human rights violations is
enough! Ten years of corruption and depriving the whole population of
basic services is enough!— The International Anti-Occupation Network / IAON

Nouri continued to use the armed forces to intimidate the protesters. Iraqi Spring MC notes
that Nouri used the forces to arrest and terrorize peaceful
demonstrators (at least three in Mosul -- Rashid Hamid, Faisal Shibley
and Saeed Ali) and they note Nouri's action in an important way -- they
note that the orders came from the Commander-in-Chief . . . and the
Minister of Defense . . . and the Minister of Interior.

Xinhua reports,
"Unidentified gunmen kidnapped eight pro-government militants and
killed seven of them on Friday in Iraq's restive central province of
Salah ad Din, said the local police." Kitabat reports that the eighth is seriously injured. Sameer N. Yacoub (AP) notes that the assailants wore "military uniforms." Alsumaria adds that the assailants used armored vehicles while Reuters notes that the assailants were on motorcycles. AFP locates
the attack "in the village of Halaiwat." The attacked were Sahwa which
have also been called "Awakenings" and "Sons Of Iraq" when male and
"Daughters Of Iraq" when female.

At the April 8, 2008 Senate Armed Services hearing
then-top US commander in Iraq Gen David Petraeus explained that "there
are now over 91,000 Sons of Iraq -- Shia as well as Sunni -- under
contract to help Coalition and Iraqi Forces protect their neighborhoods
and secure infrastructure and roads. These volunteers have contributed
significantly in various areas, and the savings in vehicles not lost
because of reduced violence -- not to mention the priceless lives saved
-- have far outweighed the cost of their monthly contracts." World Bulletin notes, "On February 2, a suicide bomber targeted Sahva forces 20 kilometers away from capital Baghdad and 19 of them were killed, 40 wounded."

Last week, Dale Gavlak (AP) reported,
"A Syrian government official warned Wednesday of rampant trafficking
in
antiquities from his country and appealed for U.N. help in halting the
illicit trade that has flourished during the nearly 23-month-long civil
war [and] asked UNESCO to appeal to Turkey and Iraq to enact stricter
measures to
prevent the smuggling of artifacts across their borders. Turkey has
strained ties with the Assad regime, while Iraq's porous frontier with
Syria is difficult to monitor." What Syria is experiencing is something
Iraq's experienced throughout the Iraq War. At the end of December,
the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued a press release which noted:The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad hosted a delegation of nine American
subject matter experts in the fields of federal law enforcement,
justice and cultural heritage protection including U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI)
special agents, from Dec. 17 to 20 at a training conference on
"Countering Antiquities Trafficking." The four-day training, sponsored
by HSI in collaboration with the U.S. Department of State, was provided
to the Iraqi Ministry of Interior police investigators representing 15
provinces on methods of identifying Iraqi cultural heritage sites, and
preventing and investigating looting and illegal trafficking within
and beyond Iraq's borders. Assistant
Chief of Mission Ambassador James Knight opened the conference stating
that, "Perhaps the most important reason for organizing a meeting such
as this is Iraq's unparalleled cultural heritage. Preserving that
heritage is to preserve some of mankind's greatest treasures. Not only
are they a precious window into the past, they are tangible reminders
to future generations of Iraqis of a glorious history.""The
countering antiquities trafficking conference in Baghdad marked a new
beginning in HSI's efforts in assisting Iraqi Antiquities Police in
their fight against the illegal trafficking of Iraq's cultural
property," said Assistant Special Agent in Charge Ransom Avilla, HSI
liaison in Baghdad. "We are hopeful that this training conference will
provide the tools necessary for Iraqi Ministry of Interior police to
detect, investigate and protect their national heritage." Other
law enforcement agencies that participated in the training conference
included U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Department of
Justice, Interpol and the U.S. National Park Service.

And again, the effort to steal these national treasures is ongoing. Khayoun Saleh (Azzman) reported
this week that "Iraqi police have seized 13 archaelogical pieces in the
southern Province of Dhiqar" and that the "initial assessment by
scientists dated them to the early periods of Mesopotamian civilization
that flourished in southern Iraq more than 5,000 years ago." Also this
week, Khalid al-Taie (Al-Shorfa) reported
that the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities had agreed to allow "six
foreign teams to start archaelogical excavations" and that the "teams
[are] from Italy, the United Kingdom and the Czech Republic." On this
topic, Samer Hijazi (Arab American News) reports
that, from March sixth through ninth, Dr. Hashim al-Tawil will be in
Sweden giving lectures at various places. He is an art history
professor with Henry Ford Community College in Michigan:

Dr. Al-Tawil, who is chair of the art history area study at HFCC,
will be presenting and discussing two key points; the first will be
focusing on the looting of Iraq's antiques, which have been eluted and
smuggled during and after the U.S. invasion. The second point will focus
on the consequences and impact of the deterioration of life conditions
in Iraq since the eighties, but more specifically after the invasion in
2003.

Many of the Iraq's archeological sites
and museums with rich materials and artifacts were looted, and
destroyed; historical artifacts, antiquity pieces, and artworks were
smuggled during the course of the invasion and the immediate years that
followed. According to Dr. Al-Tawil, thousands of professional Iraqis,
scholars, and academicians in all fields were displaced, assassinated,
or scared away and sought refuge in neighboring countries, Europe and
North America, which left the country void of these professionals.
Currently there are too many less qualified, untrained, and under
educated individuals who filled that vacuum and are now in charge of
Iraq's major cultural and educational institutions. This in turn has
negatively affected the different aspects of life in Iraq especially in
the field of education, culture, health service and other public
services.

"When a country loses knowledgeable and well educated scientists,
scholars, professors and well trained archaeologists, inadequate and
opportunist individuals jump in to fill their spots illegitimately.
Beside the severe deterioration in the quality of the service there is
the probability of further compromising Iraq's culture. Thousands of
these displaced Iraqi professionals are in the Diasporas with no
opportunity to serve their country and there is no indications from the
Iraqi authorities to utilize their expertise and knowledge in rebuilding
Iraq," Dr. Al-Tawil said.

Final topic, Duncan Roden (Green Left) reports
tomorrow will be "the 1000th day in which alleged WikiLeaks
whistleblower 24-year-old US Army intelligence officer Bradley Manning,
has been jailed by US authorities without trial." Background, Monday April 5,
2010, WikiLeaks released US
military video of a July 12, 2007 assault in Iraq. 12 people were
killed in the assault including two Reuters journalists Namie Noor-Eldeen and
Saeed Chmagh. Monday June 7,
2010, the US military announced that they had arrested Bradley
Manning and he stood accused of being the leaker of the video. Leila Fadel
(Washington Post) reported in August 2010 that Manning had
been charged -- "two charges under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. The
first encompasses four counts of violating Army regulations by transferring
classified information to his personal computer between November and May and
adding unauthorized software to a classified computer system. The second
comprises eight counts of violating federal laws governing the handling of
classified information." In March, 2011, David S. Cloud
(Los Angeles Times) reported
that the military has added 22 additional counts to the charges including one
that could be seen as "aiding the enemy" which could result in the death penalty
if convicted. The Article 32 hearing took place in December. At the start of
this year, there was an Article 32 hearing and, February 3rd, it was announced
that the government would be moving forward with a court-martial. Bradley has
yet to enter a plea and has neither affirmed that he is the leaker nor denied
it. The court-martial was supposed to begin before the November 2012 election but it was
postponed until after the election so that Barack wouldn't have to run on a
record of his actual actions.

Alex Kane (In These Times) notes,
"40 cities around the world are set to mark the 1,000th day of
WikiLeaks
source Bradley Manning’s imprisonment. Manning’s whistleblowing acts
will be honored and his imprisonment without a speedy trial denounced
this weekend in places ranging from Denver to Rome to Sydney." These
events will take place today (a few), Saturday (most) and Sunday (a
few). BradleyManning.org notes they will be "around the world are planning demonstrations, rallies, and marches on February 23.
From California, to Florida, to Italy, to Germany, supporters of PFC
Manning will make their protests known." Here's their list: